A Tattoo, A Safe Place, And Some Whiskey
by KatelynRoxUrSox
Summary: It started with a familiar tattoo, and ended with a familiar mansion. All Emma and Regina so desperately need is to be themselves, without labels or expectations. Perhaps they can find that acceptance and understanding with each other. [pre-SQ] [brief mentions of character death] [oneshot]


**a/n: Hi everyone. This is just a little thing I thought up. It's a sort of preSQ one shot…different take on Regina finding out about Neal's death and also Emma learns about Robin and his lion tattoo….oh yeah, and whiskey is involved (: Enjoy! Please review. I really appreciate hearing from you! xoxo ~Katelyn**

**A Tattoo, A Safe Place, And Some Whiskey**

"What about this? Is this magical?" Robin breathed out. His face was mere inches away from Regina's. He had stepped one leg between hers, reached behind her to pull out a bottle from the shelf, and remained in place once he had the bottle in hand. Regina paused for a moment to regain her composure, hoping that her discomfort with the situation was not visible. Yes, this Robin Hood was something else- certainly something interesting, but there was no need to invade a woman's personal space.

She chuckled when she saw the bottle that he held. "Not exactly," she began with a smirk, "But it is a liquid that can conjure courage, give strength of even act as a love potion of sorts." She readjusted herself so she was standing on both feet, and not leaning against the shelves. Feeling much more in control, she allowed herself to smile at the charming man in front of her. "It's called Whiskey, and no, it's not magical," she grimaced, "especially the next day."

"Ah," Robin said, nodding in understanding. He took a step to the right, pulled two glasses from the top shelf, and placed them on the table.

"You want to have a drink now?" Regina asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well over the last few days we've survived a curse, woken up in an entirely new realm, and forgotten a year of our lives," Robin said with a shrug as he poured the whiskey between the glasses.

"I say we've earned it," he said, turning to Regina to offer her a glass, "Wouldn't you?" Regina smiled brightly at the man in front of her he held up the glass and the bottle of whiskey for her to put away.

She took hold of the bottle of whiskey, and went to reach for the glass in his other hand, when she noticed something that she had not seen before. It was in that moment, everything changed for Regina. She looked down at the glass and saw a bold tattoo on Robin's wrist where his sleeve was rolled up. It was a dark square with a white lion on the inside.

Regina's smile fell as she was reminded of her younger days as a queen, miserable in her marriage to the king. She remembered Tinker Bell taking her to meet her true love- a man sitting in a tavern with a dragon tattoo on his wrist. She had run away out of fear, and never met him again. It was then that she realized who this man standing in front of her was. It wasn't his fault what happened next. He didn't know who Regina was. So many thoughts were running through her head, and it was all happening so quickly.

What if something had happened between the two when she saw him in the tavern? How different would her life have been? And what if someone had happened when they were in the Enchanted Forest during their missing year? And they didn't remember anything. Her fight or flight instincts kicked in then, and as much as she hated herself for it, the only thing she could do was run.

She pushed past him and took off out of the old farm house, whiskey bottle in hand, and ran quickly towards the only place she thought she could be alone. She ran, ignoring Robin's shouts for her, until she could no longer hear him or see the house.

**.oOo.**

Regina had chosen not to use magic to get to her next destination, in fear that perhaps this wicked witch would be able to track her magic. She wasn't ready to go home just yet, but she needed time to be alone and think, and she would rather not be killed by the witch while she was contemplating her love life- her entire life, actually.

She looked up at the wooden castle that stood in front of her. It was Henry's castle. He had loved to play here growing up, and once he had received the fairy tale book from Snow White, he had enjoyed it even more, though at that point, he hadn't wanted Regina to come with him.

She smiled at the castle, remembering Henry as a toddler, climbing up the ladder and sliding down the slide, where Regina would wait at the bottom to catch him. He had been such a sweet child. She missed him dearly.

Assuming she was alone, Regina climbed up the ladder and sat inside the castle, hanging her feet over the edge. She opened the bottle of whiskey and took a swig.

"Regina?" She heard a voice call from below. She looked down to see a wave of blonde hair flash from under the castle. She turned and saw none other than Emma Swan climbing up the ladder to join her in the castle.

"This is my hiding place," Emma teased. "But I guess I can share," she added with a shrug. Regina pursed her lips, but slid over so that Emma could sit too.

"How kind of you," Regina replied, teasing as well. She usually could return Emma's teasing with a quick jab to shut her up, but for some reason, she could not find it in her to be mean or even snarky to the blonde.

"What are you doing here?" Emma asked, titling her head to the side. "Whiskey, Madam Mayor? From where?" she asked with raised eyebrows. She hadn't known the brunette was a whiskey drinker, thinking back to the times when Regina had refused drinks with the Sheriff.

"Robin found it in the farm house….it was empty, by the way, No traces of magic," Regina said quietly. She took a swig of the whiskey.

"Wait, so you drink whiskey with _Robin Hood_, but not with the savior? I'm hurt," Emma exclaimed, feigning offense. She clearly had not paid attention to the second half of Regina's statement.

"I don't drink with the savior," Regina said. "And, I didn't end up drinking with him either, don't worry," Regina said shrugging.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Emma asked. She noted Regina's sad eyes and quiet demeanor.

"He just wasn't who I thought he was," Regina said with a shrug.

"Did he hurt you? I'll kick his ass, you know I will," Emma said suddenly feeling angry.

"No, no. Don't worry about that. It was my fault as usual," Regina said, hating herself for sounding so self pitying.

"Happens to the best of us," Emma said, trying not make Regina feel like sharing her problems was a burden to Emma. She offered Regina soft smile. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"When I was about eighteen, I met Tinker Bell…She used pixie dust to help me find my true love. She brought me to him, and all I had to do was go inside a tavern and talk to him…I only saw him from the back, and I saw his distinguishing mark, which was a tattoo of a lion on his wrist. I was so close and I got scared, so I ran. I never saw him again. Until today…Robin was…is, I don't know….my true love," Regina said, sighing. She was so confused with how she felt about this man.

"Isn't that what you want, though? Your chance at true love? And happiness?" Emma asked.

"I won't be truly happy without Henry…" Regina murmured sadly.

"I know," Emma nodded in understanding.

"But also…he was supposed to be my true love then. I blew my chance. There's no telling if the magic is the same now," Regina said with a shrug.

"I don't think that's what you're afraid of," Emma said, narrowing her eyes.

"I don't know what else…" Regina began, but Emma cut her off shaking her head.

"I think there are a lot of things. But I think now that you've experienced many different facets of life and love, you're afraid of losing your choice. You've lost it before…you've had people controlling you, dictating your future your whole life. You don't want magic to decide who you love. _You _want to decide. And believe me, I get that. Because I want it, too," Emma explained. Regina considered Emma's words for a moment. Perhaps that was all true.

"So what do you think I should do?" Regina asked, surprised that she wanted Emma's advice. Really, she was surprised that she had even opened up to Emma at all. She should've just taken her whiskey and went elsewhere when she saw the blonde. But she was drawn to Emma today and didn't want to leave.

"I think you shouldn't turn away from Robin just because you know who he is now. It seemed like you were starting to like him…don't let that change because of magic. Take control of this yourself…don't let magic control you." Emma took Regina hand in her own and squeezed it, offering support and strength.

"Thank you Emma," Regina murmured. Emma gave a tight lipped smile.

"Now how about some of that whiskey for the Savior?" Emma teased, nudging Regina with her shoulder.

"I told you, I don't drink with the Savior," Regina said with a wink. "But I'll see you around, Emma," Regina said, and gave a soft smile. She carefully dropped down from the castle into the sand. She began to walk away, but stopped.

"Oh Emma," She added, turning around.

"Yes?" Emma asked, eyes widening.

"Thank you again." Emma could swear she saw a glint of hope return to Regina's eyes with her parting words. With that Regina left Emma to ponder the conversation that had just taken place between the two of them. She smiled as she watch the older brunette trudge through the sand back to town.

**.oOo.**

Neal was dead. Just like that, he was gone. One moment Emma and Neal had been teasing each other about past relationships gone wrong, and the next, he was lying in her arms asking that she tell Henry who he was.

Emma was devastated. No, they had not been in love for a long time, but she had certainly loved and cared about him. They were old friends, and now he was no longer with her.

"Emma, honey," Snow murmured reaching to hug Emma, when she had delivered the news to David and Snow in their apartment. Henry had been out fishing with Leroy and the other dwarfs at the time.

"I have to tell Henry. And he's not going to even know who Neal is. He will never know…" Emma murmured, leaning into her mother's embrace.

"It'll be okay, Emma. We'll help you get through this, and we'll help you with Henry. You know that," Snow whispered in Emma's ear. Emma gently pulled away from Snow and moved to the stairs of the apartment. Her head was spinning and her chest felt tight. As she looked at her mother again, into her eyes, and then down to her pregnant stomach, she felt nauseous. She looked to her father, that charming sparkle in his eyes that demonstrated his desire to help her and protect her, and just felt overwhelmed and uncomfortable.

"I need some air…" Emma said suddenly, standing up abruptly.

"Emma where are you-" Snow began, but Emma cut her off.

"I don't know. I just can't be in here right now. It's too… I have to go…Henry's out with Leroy…" Emma called out, hoping her parents understood to go get him after a while. Emma knew this wasn't the responsible or mature reaction to what had transpired, but screw mature. For once, Emma needed to think about her duties to herself and not as the Savior.

She ran onto the street and let her mind wander has her feet carried her through the center of town, down a familiar road, up a familiar driveway, and when her thoughts returned to her, she realized she was standing in front of a very familiar door. As she went to knock, the door opened.

There stood Regina, unlike Emma had ever seen her before. It was the evening now, and apparently, when the sun went down, so did the Evil Queen/Madam Mayor mask that Regina wore. She was wearing yoga pants, a sweater haphazardly hanging from her shoulder, and thick rimmed glasses. Emma looked at her, realizing how small the woman actually was, when she wasn't hidden by the facade of power suits and five inch heels.

"Ms. Swan?" Regina asked, trying to get Emma's attention. She pulled the sweater tightly around herself and leaned against the door frame. "Are you alright?" She asked, slightly louder, trying to pull Emma from her dazed stare.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know where else to go. I didn't really mean to, you know? I just started walking and wound up here. I should go. Sorry for disturbing you," Emma rambled, her red rimmed eyes brimming with tears. As she turned to go, she felt a small, warm hand catch her own cold one.

"You don't have to go," Regina said firmly, tugging on Emma's hand a little, so that she would turn around. "I heard about what happened," she stated.

"How?" Emma asked, sniffling.

"Your mother," Regina admitted. "She called me when you left her house…said you were a bit overwhelmed," Regina said, which earned a small smile from Emma.

"That's the understatement of the century," Emma replied. Regina offered a smile.

"That it is, my dear. Now, would you like to come inside and talk, or would you much rather freeze on my front porch?" Regina asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't want to disturb you…." Emma began, "not that I'm saying I haven't already disturbed you…because I have," she continued.

"You really must stop over thinking your every move, Ms. Swan. Come inside before you freeze," Regina said, talking Emma's hand and pulling her inside. She closed the front door behind her and led her to the living room.

She offered Emma a blanket and pointed to a white couch.

"You can sit and warm up. I'll make some drinks," Regina offered, and left the room hastily. She quickly switched to playing hostess because it was much easier than admitting feeling something for the blonde. And how inappropriate would it be to admit that she was attracted to the blonde, when the she was here to spill her heart out about her recently passed estranged lover. That would be highly inappropriate, not to mention offensive and completely insensitive. No, Regina would hold off on those feelings for now. Instead, she would focus on Emma's tonight.

She poured whiskey into two tumblers and brought them back into the living room.

She situated herself on the other end of the couch before handing Emma her drink. Emma nodded a thanks and accepted the drink.

"So do you want to talk about it?" Regina asked, echoing the blonde's words from a few days earlier.

Not missing the reference to their earlier conversation, Emma smiled. "You already know what happened. There's not much else to talk about," Emma said shrugging.

"Of course there is. You can talk about how you feel about it. But of course, you don't have to talk at all, if you're more comfortable that way," Regina added casually, as if giving Emma this choice was something normal. Emma tilted her head to the side to study Regina.

"What?" Regina asked, raising an eyebrow. But Emma shook her head.

"I had to get out of their house…I was suffocating. They're trying to be my parents and tell me everything will be okay, but they're about thirty years too late for that. And then they're also having another baby so that's weird for all they say about wanting to be my parents…you know? And then Neal, god, I spent so much time being angry with him, and I finally forgave him and I finally started to reconnect with him…and Henry. He'll never know Neal the way he should have," Emma said shaking her head sadly as she sobbed. "I know you never liked him…"

"Be that as it may, I can respect your feelings for him, and understand what he meant to you," Regina offered.

"Thank you," Emma said. "And thank you for letting me interrupt your evening…I didn't mean to do this to you," Emma said trying to wipe away her tears.

"Dear, you weren't interrupting much. She motioned to the carton of ice cream left on the coffee table in front of a TV.

"Madame Mayor eats Ben and Jerry's?" Emma teased, wiping the remaining tears away.

"Of course I do. Just because I like to be healthy doesn't mean I don't indulge every once in a while," Regina said rolling her eyes with a grin.

"Fair enough," Emma murmured, taking a sip of the drink in her hand, and swallowed, surprised at the liquid. "Whiskey, Madam Mayor?"

"Indeed. Is that alright?" Regina asked, taking a sip from her own glass. "I do have other-" she continued, but Emma cut her off, shaking her head.

"No, no it's great. I just thought you didn't drink with the Savior?" Emma asked.

"I don't. However, I do drink with Emma, once in a while," Regina said with a shrug.

"What do you mean? I'm pretty sure Emma and the Savior are synonymous these days," Emma said, taking another sip of her drink.

"Emma, it's no secret to anyone that you have been trying to be everyone's Savior. You feel that you are doing what is expected of you, and you have bending to fit the molds that everyone needs you to be. You're trying to be a sheriff, a Savior, a daughter to two very trying people, might I had, you're trying to be a mother, and then where does that leave you for yourself? Do you ever get to try and be just Emma?" Regina asked. "You once told me that you didn't see the Evil Queen in me. You just saw Regina, and you helped me see her too…and it had been so long since I had. So now, let me help you see 'Emma' again. Not Charming and Snow's daughter, not Sheriff Swan, not the Savior. Just Emma," Regina said with a shrug, as she finished explaining. She put her drink on the table and took Emma's from her hand, placing that down as well.

She then moved closer to Emma, and wrapped her arms around the blonde, lacing her fingers behind Emma's neck, and pulled her into a tight embrace. Emma let the smaller woman's arms envelop her, and she allowed the feeling of warmth to course through her veins, the smell of Regina's perfuming flooding her senses.

"What ever happens from here, just know, that at least for me, I don't expect anything from you. When Daniel died, I didn't have any one to help me handle it the way I needed to…no one to guide me. And look where that got me. I won't let that happen to you, Emma Swan," Regina said firmly, shaking her head, as she pulled away from the hug.

Emma was at loss for the words, tears once again brimming in her eyes. She leaned her head against Regina's shoulders, and allowed the brunette's arms to enclose around her waist. Finally for the first time in months, both Emma and Regina allowed themselves. And while the hurt was still very present in both of them, they felt a little safer, and a little more comfortable, knowing that when they were in each other's arms, they could be just Emma and just Regina, and that would be quite alright for one another.

**a/n: hope you enjoyed this! please review. I will go back in and edit this and correct any mistakes..but I just wanted to post this and go to bed because it is very late! :)**


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